Ireland ranks as the 12th best place to be born in the Economist’s 2013 Lottery of Life

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of the well known The Economist, has created a list of the top twelve best places to be born in 2013 and Ireland came in at number 12.

Switzerland landed the luckiest place to be born in 2013 with an EIC score of 8.22 and Ireland followed at number 12 with a score of 7.74 , just missing the top ten. The United States followed behind at number 16 with a score of 7.38.

The EIU ranks 80 countries by assigning them a score. The score is created by using an equation the EIU created. The EIU assigns a number for the results of its self-satisfaction survey. The survey looks at how happy people say they are. Obviously, the survey is rather subjective. The EIU then adds objective factors about quality of life. Influencing factors include trust in public institutions, crime rates, and health of family life. State policies and the state of the world economy also carry weight. Countries are assigned a number between 1 and 10, where 10 is the highest.

The EIU must make predictions about what these factors will be like in the future. Factors such as income per capita are easier to calculate than others. The EIU uses the economic forecasts to 2030, which is when babies born in 2013 will reach adulthood. Some factors, such as demography and cultural characteristics, tend to change slowly and may not see a large difference between now and 2030.

The current world economy had a big impact on countries’ scores. Countries with smaller economies and who were generally not part of the Euro zone fill the top ten. The Netherlands was the only country from the Euro zone to make it into the top ten.The large debt that the US has pushed it back to the 16th spot. The crisis hurting southern European countries, such as Greece, Portugal, and Spain, pushed those countries even further down on the list. Ireland has recently experienced a boost in its aviation industry which might have helped push it up the list. Additionally, Ireland should receive a boost in tourism revenue from the Gathering in 2013.

General life expectancy and political freedoms have continued to increase across the world, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. However, the economic crisis has increased unemployment and decreased personal security. Both of these things impacted family and community life.